Concord Grape Jelly
I’ve never been a fan of store-bought grape jelly because it has no taste. If it tastes at all like grape, it doesn’t taste real.
Our small batch Concord grape jelly really surprised me. It’s full of real flavor. I even cut back on the sugar a bit so that the natural grape flavor would stand out.
We don’t have grape vines here at the homestead anymore, so we purchased Concord grapes from Creekside Produce, an Amish family farm in Sinking Valley. Their vines are right behind the store, and they produced very well this year.
You start this jelly by making grape juice very slowly over medium heat. As the skins begin to separate from the fruit, the aroma is just luscious and the color grows richer purple by the minute. I strained the juice twice to ensure clarity.
Next year, if the crop is good, we’ll be getting a full bushel of grapes from Creekside. Until then, we’ll enjoy this year’s jelly much more than we had expected. Hope you like it.